Chelsea Football club collected a little over £400m in revenues for the financial year ending June 30, 2020. This is a drop of nearly £40m (10 per cent) from the previous year’s record numbers, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A statement on the club’s official website stated that the Blues still earned a profit of £32.5m because of Champions League qualification and player sales. Chelsea’s income and profit over the past several seasons have hugely depended on player sales, though the Champions League itself was worth around €50m more than the Europa League.
While Chelsea hasn’t had to worry about finances since 2003, it’s great to see the club post a profit after the £100m+ loss last fiscal year — and without putting anyone on furlough during the pandemic! In the Abramovich era, Chelsea had posted profits in 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2018 and this is the fifth time they did the same. Going by the trend, the London club is definitely on the right, self-sustaining track.
Unfortunately, the immediate future doesn’t look too promising, as COVID-19 continues to thrive and its impact continues to shift the financial and societal landscapes in sport, football, and life in general.
With the associated drops in matchday income, merchandising, and most importantly broadcast revenues — the club’s statement notes that deferred rebates are also due to broadcasters on previously agreed contracts because of the pandemic — the 2021 financial year could be a tough one to navigate. Add in Chelsea’s £200m spending spree over the summer transfer window, and we might be looking at another big swing in profitability twelve months from now. (Chelsea’s new shirt sponsorship won’t have much of an impact there, and the Nike contract remains the same as before as well.)
Chelsea do note that the club remains FFP compliant, and as we know, UEFA have suspended FFP accounting for at least this season. So Chelsea probably don’t have to worry too much in that regard, and as we learned from Manchester City, Chelsea can just have Abramovich sponsor himself with one of his companies anyway if needed.